ST. GEORGE -- Thanks to a second-inning offensive drive started by Amanda Vance-Kellum, and two multi-run homers from Andrea Ramirez and Angie Quiocho, BYU (3-0) beat UC Santa Barbara 13-3 in five innings of play.

“We have a solid team, and a solid lineup which are definitely capable of great things,” said BYU head coach Gordon Eakin. “I am extremely proud of our team and how we came alive there in the second inning. We need to do a better job at starting off strong as a team instead of gradually gaining momentum as the game goes on.”

Although the Gauchos were first to score at the top of the second inning, BYU came to bat ready to play. Vance-Kellum kicked off the scoring drive with a double, followed with a single from Caschjen Davis-Atagi single to centerfield which brought in Vance-Kellum.

After Alexandra Hudson walked, Kristin Delahoussaye doubled to right centerfield which drove Davis-Atagi, and Hudson home. J.C. Clayton stepped up to the plate and shot a single down the left field line which brought Delahoussaye home. Quiocho came up next and sent a single to the exact same spot Clayton’s went.

With two outs and two Cougars on base, Ramirez powered a three run homered to left field bringing the score to 7-1.

While the Cougars were busy lighting up the sky, and the field with hits and home runs, Paige Affleck was pitching a great defensive game.

“Paige was excellent today,” Eakin said. “She is really maturing in her game and is becoming a great pitcher. She understands her role and gives her all every game."

Affleck faced 15 UCSB batters in four innings, giving up one run and only three hits.

“I always try to get better each inning I pitch, and today was no exception,” Affleck said. “I know there is room for improvement. I need to be more consistent and get better at placing the ball where I want it.”

BYU showed more of that same offensive fire in the bottom of the third inning as it scored a total of six runs thanks to two separate three run bombs hit by Quiocho and Whitney Thomas-Nix.

In the end, BYU tallied 13 runs off 15 hits from 11 different players in five innings.

The Cougars head back to the field tomorrow to finish their tournament play with one last doubleheader against Maine and Tulsa. The games will be played at 1:30 and 4 p.m.

UC Santa Barbara at Brigham Young Univ.
Feb 12, 2010 at St George (Canyon Softball Complex)
UC Santa Barbara 
Player                    AB  R  H RBI BB SO PO  A LOB
------------------------------------------------------
Ziegler, J. 1b...........  3  1  0  0   0  1  5  1   0
Adishian lf..............  3  0  0  0   0  1  0  0   0
Jennings ss..............  1  0  0  0   2  1  2  1   0
Beristianos 3b...........  2  1  0  0   1  1  0  0   0
McDonald dh..............  3  0  2  1   0  0  0  0   2
Sweet 2b.................  1  0  0  0   2  0  0  0   0
DePompa c................  3  0  1  1   0  1  3  0   3
Ziegler, A. cf...........  2  0  1  0   0  1  1  0   0
Putich, B. rf............  2  0  0  0   0  0  0  0   3
Cobb p...................  0  0  0  0   0  0  0  1   0
 Liepman p...............  0  0  0  0   0  0  0  0   0
 Matsumoto p.............  0  0  0  0   0  0  1  1   0
Totals................... 20  2  4  2   5  6 12  4   8
Brigham Young Univ. 13 (3-0)
Player                    AB  R  H RBI BB SO PO  A LOB
------------------------------------------------------
DELAHOUSSAYE,Kristin 2b..  3  2  2  2   0  0  2  0   0
 HICKS, Krista 2b........  1  0  0  0   0  0  0  0   0
CLAYTON, J.C. ss.........  4  1  2  1   0  1  1  2   1
QUICHO, Angeline 3b......  2  2  2  3   0  0  1  1   0
PURCELL-FITU, Jess. c....  3  1  1  0   0  0  8  0   0
RAMIREZ, Andrea 1b.......  3  2  1  3   0  0  2  0   2
WILLARD, Delaney rf......  3  1  2  3   0  0  0  0   0
VANCE-KELLUM, Amanda dh..  3  1  1  0   0  1  0  0   1
DAVIS-ATAGI,Caschjen lf..  2  1  1  1   0  1  0  0   0
 PRICE, Amber lf.........  1  0  1  0   0  0  0  0   0
HUDSON, Alexandra cf.....  1  2  1  0   1  0  1  0   0
 HOLT, Amy cf............  1  0  1  0   0  0  0  0   0
AFFLECK, Paige p.........  0  0  0  0   0  0  0  0   0
 HOWELL, Hannah p........  0  0  0  0   0  0  0  0   0
Totals................... 27 13 15 13   1  3 15  3   4
Score by Innings               R  H  E
--------------------------------------
UC Santa Barbara.... 010 01 -  2  4  1
Brigham Young Univ.. 076 0X - 13 15  2
--------------------------------------
E - Jennings; CLAYTON 2. LOB - Gauchos 8; Cougars 4. 2B - DELAHOUSSAYE;
VANCE-KELLUM; PRICE. HR - QUICHO; RAMIREZ; WILLARD. HBP - QUICHO. SB -
Ziegler, J..
UC Santa Barbara       IP  H  R ER BB SO AB BF
-----------------------------------------------
Cobb................  1.1  5  5  5  1  0  9 11
Liepman.............  0.1  3  2  2  0  0  4  4
Matsumoto...........  2.1  7  6  5  0  3 14 14
Brigham Young Univ.    IP  H  R ER BB SO AB BF
-----------------------------------------------
AFFLECK, Paige......  4.0  3  1  1  3  4 15 18
HOWELL, Hannah......  1.0  1  1  0  2  2  5  7
Win - AFFLECK (2-0).  Loss - Cobb.  Save - None.
HBP - by Cobb (QUICHO). PB - DePompa; PURCELL-FITU.
Umpires - HP: Dan Ringsby  1B: Willy Newman  3B: Clair McBride
Start: 4:00   Time: 1:27   Attendance: 127
Weather: clear and sunny...55 degrees
Game: BY-UBSC
UC Santa Barbara 1st - Ziegler, J. struck out swinging. Adishian struck
out swinging. Jennings struck out looking. 0 runs, 0 hits, 0 errors, 0
LOB.
Brigham Young Univ. 1st - DELAHOUSSAYE grounded out to ss. CLAYTON
singled to center field. QUICHO hit by pitch; CLAYTON advanced to second.
PURCELL-FITU flied out to cf. QUICHO advanced to second on a passed ball;
CLAYTON advanced to third on a passed ball. RAMIREZ grounded out to p. 0
runs, 1 hit, 0 errors, 2 LOB.
UC Santa Barbara 2nd - Beristianos walked. McDonald singled; Beristianos
advanced to second. Sweet grounded out to 3b, bunt; McDonald advanced to
second; Beristianos advanced to third. DePompa singled, RBI; McDonald out at
third ss to 3b, advanced to third on a fielder's choice; Beristianos scored.
Ziegler, A. singled; DePompa advanced to second. Putich, B. popped up to c.
1 run, 3 hits, 0 errors, 2 LOB.
Brigham Young Univ. 2nd - WILLARD flied out to 1b. VANCE-KELLUM doubled
to center field. DAVIS-ATAGI singled to right center, RBI; VANCE-KELLUM scored.
HUDSON walked; DAVIS-ATAGI advanced to second. DELAHOUSSAYE doubled to center
field, 2 RBI; HUDSON scored; DAVIS-ATAGI scored. CLAYTON singled to left field,
RBI; DELAHOUSSAYE scored. Liepman to p for Cobb. QUICHO singled to left field;
CLAYTON advanced to third. PURCELL-FITU lined out to ss. RAMIREZ homered to
left field, 3 RBI; QUICHO scored; CLAYTON scored. WILLARD singled to center
field. Matsumoto to p for Liepman. VANCE-KELLUM struck out swinging. 7 runs,
7 hits, 0 errors, 1 LOB.
UC Santa Barbara 3rd - Ziegler, J. reached on an error by ss. Ziegler,
J. advanced to second on a passed ball. Adishian flied out to cf. Ziegler, J.
stole third. Jennings walked. Beristianos grounded out to 1b unassisted.
McDonald infield fly to ss. 0 runs, 0 hits, 1 error, 2 LOB.
Brigham Young Univ. 3rd - DAVIS-ATAGI struck out looking. HUDSON
singled. DELAHOUSSAYE singled to left field; HUDSON advanced to second. CLAYTON
struck out looking. QUICHO homered to right center, 3 RBI; DELAHOUSSAYE scored;
HUDSON scored. PURCELL-FITU singled. RAMIREZ reached on an error by ss;
PURCELL-FITU advanced to second. WILLARD homered to center field, 3 RBI;
RAMIREZ scored, unearned; PURCELL-FITU scored. VANCE-KELLUM popped up to p.
6 runs, 5 hits, 1 error, 0 LOB.
UC Santa Barbara 4th - Sweet walked. DePompa reached on a fielder's
choice; Sweet out at second ss to 2b. Ziegler, A. struck out swinging. Putich,
B. fouled out to c. 0 runs, 0 hits, 0 errors, 1 LOB.
Brigham Young Univ. 4th - HICKS to 2b for DELAHOUSSAYE. PRICE to lf for
DAVIS-ATAGI. HOLT to cf for HUDSON. PRICE doubled to left center. HOLT singled
to center field; PRICE advanced to third. HICKS grounded out to 1b unassisted;
HOLT out at second 1b to ss. CLAYTON grounded out to p. 0 runs, 2 hits, 0
errors, 1 LOB.
UC Santa Barbara 5th - HOWELL to p for AFFLECK. DELAHOUSSAYE to 2b for
HICKS. DAVIS-ATAGI to lf for PRICE. HUDSON to cf for HOLT. Ziegler, J. reached
on an error by ss. Adishian fouled out to 2b. Jennings walked; Ziegler, J.
advanced to second. Beristianos struck out looking. McDonald singled to center
field, RBI; Jennings advanced to second; Ziegler, J. scored, unearned. Sweet
walked; McDonald advanced to second; Jennings advanced to third. DePompa struck
out swinging. 1 run, 1 hit, 1 error, 3 LOB.

PROVO -- On Thursday BYU's season debut in softball begins as it hosts the 11-team Red Desert Classic in St. George.

"We are very excited and the team has been preparing hard," said Angie Quiocho, a senior from Walnut, Calif. "This is where we first hit the dirt, and we are anxious to see how we do."

The Cougars face off against San Jose State for the first game on Thursday afternoon at 2 p.m. Joining BYU in the tourney are Utah, Utah State, Utah Valley, Idaho State, Maine, Seattle, Tulsa, UC Santa Barbara, Northern Colorado and San Jose State.

"Our coaching staff has really been supportive and they constantly motivate us to reach our greatest potential as a team," said Tiffany Messerschmidt, a sophomore from Thousand Oaks, Calif. "We, as a team, make every practice game-like by hitting against our pitchers which are the best in the conference. I know that we have prepared ourselves well for St. George."

BYU has opened their fourth-straight season by hosting the tournament at the Canyons Softball Complex.

On Friday the Cougars compete back-to-back against Seattle at 1:30 p.m., and then Santa Barbara at 4 p.m.

BYU plays its second doubleheader of the season on Saturday against Maine and Tulsa at 1:30 and 4 p.m. respectively.

With eight starters returning to the team, including both pitchers and All-American Jessica Pucell-Fitu, the Cougars hope to remain a force to be reckoned with.

In 2009 the Cougars finished the season 40-18, 12-2 MWC, competing in the fifth-consecutive NCAA Tournament. The Red Desert Classic is the first of seven tournaments for the Cougars, who return to St. George on April 2-3 for the Pre- Conference Tournament.

All Red Desert Classic games are listed below and will be updated during the tournament.

Red Desert Classic
Thu, Feb 11
BYU (5)         vs. San Jose St.   9-5 (BYU)
UCSB (5)        vs. No. Colorado   6-3 (UCSB)
Maine (1)       vs. Idaho St.      6-5 (Idaho State)
  
Fri, Feb 12
No. Colo.(5)    vs. Seattle       8-7 (Northern Colorado)
Maine (1)       vs. Utah St.      7-6 (Utah State)
Utah (4)        vs. San Jose St.  8-0 (Utah...in 5 innings)
Tulsa (3)       vs. Idaho St      8-0 (Tulsa)
Seattle (5)     vs. BYU           3-2 (BYU)
Utah Valley (1) vs. Maine         10-8 (UVU)
Utah St. (4)    vs. Idaho St.     9-0 (Utah State)
Tulsa (3)       vs. UCSB          3-1 (UCSB)
BYU (5)         vs. UCSB          13-3 (BYU)
San Jose St.(1) vs. Utah Valley   7-3 (San Jose State)
Utah (4)        vs. No. Colorado  6-5 (Utah)
  
Sat, Feb 13
UCSB (5)        vs. Maine         3-2 (UCSB)
Idaho St. (1)   vs. Utah          5-3 (Utah)
San Jose St.(4) vs. No. Colorado  15-8 (San Jose State)
Tulsa (3)       vs. Utah St.      8-1 (Tulsa)
Maine (5)       vs. BYU           9-1 (BYU)
Utah Valley (1) vs. Idaho St.     10-4 (UVU)
San Jose St.(4) vs. Seattle       7-3 (San Jose State)
No. Colo. (3)   vs. Utah St.      7-3 (Utah State)
BYU (5)         vs. Tulsa         7-5 (BYU)
UCSB (1)        vs. Utah Valley   4-2 (UCSB)
Seattle (4)     vs. Utah          9-1 (Utah)
Sun, Feb 14
Utah (5)        vs. Tulsa         6-5 (Utah)
Seattle (1)     vs. Utah St.      4-3 (Utah State)
Final Standings
BYU          5-0
Utah         5-0
UCSB         4-1
Utah St.     4-1
San Jose St. 3-1
Tulsa        2-3
UVU          2-2
Idaho St.    1-4
N. Colo.     1-4
Maine        0-5
Seattle      0-5